Daily Tech Briefing: July 14, 2014

There has been a long-running rumor that Apple’s iPhone 6 smartphones will feature sapphire glass displays. Now, it seems as though that may be true.

YouTube blogger Marques Brownlee recently posted a video of himself with what he claims is the front glass of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, “straight off the assembly line,” and made of sapphire glass.

In the video, Brownlee stabs the glass with a knife, runs it over the keys of his keyboard and repeatedly twists and turns it in an effort to show how durable sapphire glass is.

T-Mobile is gearing up for a busy month as the company prepares to defend itself against a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission accusing it of making bogus charges on customers’ bills, while simultaneously attempting to gain public support for a petition to the Federal Communications Commission.

The company’s petition requests the FCC to spell out exactly what qualifies as “commercially reasonable” regarding data roaming agreements.

T-Mobile is not the only company being forced to answer to the FTC. Amazon is also dealing with an FTC complaint about its policies regarding in-app purchases in applications targeted at children. Andrew DeVore,

Amazon general counsel and vice president, told the FTC that given that Amazon has taken action to address consumer complaints and has had “constructive meetings” with Chairwoman Edith Ramirez on the matter, he was deeply disappointed to learn that the FTC was still planning to file a complaint.

As part of their continued effort to make Bitcoin a fully accepted part of the monetary landscape, the Bitcoin Foundation recently announced that it has hired a lobbying firm. The Thorsen French Advocacy will represent the internet- based currency.

The biggest challenge Bitcoin is facing from a public policy perspective, is the notion that Bitcoin is a refuge for crime and money laundering. However, there is an argument to be made that the same is true of regular U.S. currency as well.